Dancing on a Solid Foundation
By Dan Holmes
The vitality of our relationship with God is the foundation upon which movement and dance rests and is expressed. An worship dancer with an unhealed heart may dance a beautiful dance, but its beauty may be resting on a structure characterized by competition, jealousy, and a longing for the approval of others. It is fine to start off doing worship dance on this kind of foundation for we have to start somewhere. It is not alright to continue on that foundation. For God to move us up higher we have to go deeper into Him. We must, by a deliberate act of our will, chase after our Healer and Lover. In that intimate place with Him He rebuilds the foundation upon which we worship Him in the dance.
On May 3, 1999 a tornado called "The Big One" touched down on Oklahoma soil laying flat everything in its path. Few people were prepared for it. Some just sat and watched in on TV never believing it would be arriving at their doorstep that very hour. When it came all they could do was climb under a bed, into a bathtub, or lay in the closest ditch. Only a few had built storm shelters in the ground and were able to find safety there. Although the wind howled like a freight train overhead, they were secure below and in that place their hearts were at rest. No matter how strong the wind, they were safe.
A unhealed heart is a result of that precious one being left in a unsafe place when the winds blew her way. She grabbed on to what she could find, but everything moved. She finally found something that seemed to move not too much and so she hung on to that…and stopped moving. She curled up on the inside and clung to that thing for safety. She no longer was free, filled with fear, and all alone inside of herself. She, at some point has to let go, to move forward.
You can be dancer and yet not be free in worship. You can lift your hands, move your feet, and yet you know more then anyone else, that you are not free. God seems distance. There is pressure to perform. There is a spirit of jealousy in the air and everyone is looking to see who has the newest moves and best choreography. To be free is to know that God adores you and accepts you just as you are. He is a loving Father who delights to watch you dance. Do you believe that? How complicated and polished does your dance have to be before you think He gives you the standing ovation? He is standing before you even begin, eager to applaud the slighest inclination of your heart to dance for Him.
It is all about getting alone with your Lover and expressing your heart to Him. In that place you will dance! There in His embrace, He will kiss your tears, pour ointment over your heart, and call you His child. Then you are ready to dance.
Resource video: Devotional Dance Workshop- a video that will help aid you in entering into the presence of God through movement and dance.
